This invention relates to a pole-type antenna unit and, in particular, to a pole-type and personal-type miniature antenna unit for a digital radio receiver for receiving an electric wave from an artificial satellite (that may be called a “satellite wave”) or an electric wave on the ground (that may be called a “terrestrial wave”) to listen in a digital radio broadcasting.
In recent years, a digital radio receiver, which receives the satellite wave or the terrestrial wave to listen the digital radio broadcasting, has been developed and is put to practical use in the United States of America. The digital radio receiver is generally mounted on a mobile station, such as an automobile, and can receive an electric wave having a frequency of about 2.3 gigahertz (GHz) to listen in a radio broadcasting. That is, the digital radio receiver is a radio receiver which can listen in a mobile broadcasting. Inasmuch as the received wave has the frequency of about 2.3 GHz, a reception wavelength (resonance frequency) λ thereof is equal to about 128.3 mm. In addition, the terrestrial wave is an electric wave in which a signal where the satellite wave is received in an earth station is frequency shifted a little and is retransmitted in a linearly polarized wave. That is, the satellite wave is a circularly polarized wave, while the terrestrial wave is the linearly polarized wave.
As described above, since the electric wave having the frequency of about 2.3 GHz is used in the digital radio broadcasting, an antenna unit for receiving such an electric wave should be installed outdoors.
As digital radio receivers, there are a type adapted to be mounted in an automobile, a type adapted to be installed in a house or the like, and a type that is portable using a battery as a power source.
As a specific example of the portable digital radio receiver, there is available a portable electronic device such as a portable sound device. This portable electronic device comprises, in addition to a digital tuner for listening to the digital radio broadcasting, for example, an optical disk drive for reproducing an optical disk such as a compact disk (CD), an amplifier, and a speaker, which are integrally incorporated in a case.
On the other hand, there have been proposed antennas with various structures that are adapted to receive the electric wave having the frequency of about 2.3 GHz. Based on the shapes, they are roughly classified into a planar type (plate type) such as a patch antenna and a cylindrical type such as a loop antenna or a helical antenna. Such an antenna of the planar or cylindrical type is prepared as a separate member from the case of the foregoing portable electronic device and is connected to the digital radio tuner incorporated in the case through a cable and a connector so as to be used.
Generally, the antennas of the cylindrical type are more used than the antennas of the planar type because a wider directivity can be achieved by making the shape of the antenna cylindrical.
Now, description will be made about a helical antenna being one of the antennas of the cylindrical type (see, e.g. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2001-339227). The helical antenna has a structure in which at least one conductor is wound around a hollow or solid cylindrical (hereinafter collectively referred to as “cylindrical”) member in a helical (spiral) fashion. The helical antenna can efficiently receive the foregoing circularly polarized wave. Accordingly, the helical antenna is used exclusively for receiving the satellite wave. The cylindrical member is made of an insulating material such as plastic. A plurality of conductors, for example, four conductors, are generally used for improving reception sensitivity. On the other hand, it is actually quite difficult to wind the plurality of conductors around the cylindrical member in the helical fashion. In view of this, it has been proposed to produce a flexible insulating film member having one surface printed with an antenna pattern composed of a plurality of conductors (hereinafter referred to as an “insulating film member with antenna pattern”) and then roll the insulating film member with antenna pattern into a hollow cylinder such that the foregoing one surface becomes an outer peripheral surface, thereby manufacturing a helical antenna (see, e.g. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2003-37430).
In the case of the helical antenna having the structure in which the plurality of conductors are wound around the cylindrical member in the helical fashion, after a satellite wave (circularly polarized wave) is received by the plurality of helical conductors as a plurality of received waves, the received waves are phase-shifted by a phase shifter so as to be matched (adjusted) in phase, thereby obtaining a combined wave, and then the combined wave is amplified by a low-noise amplifier (LNA) and sent to a receiver. Herein, a combination of the helical antenna, the phase shifter, and the low-noise amplifier is called an antenna unit.
On the other hand, there has also been proposed an antenna unit comprising a helical antenna in the form of an antenna pattern formed on an outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical member, and a phase shifter in the form of a phase shifter pattern formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member so as to be continuous with (connected to) the antenna pattern (see, e.g. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2001-339228).
Such an antenna unit is placed in a topped hollow cylindrical cover case (cylinder) in order to prevent water invasion. Accordingly, the external appearance of the overall antenna unit exhibits a pole shape. In view of this, the antenna unit having such external appearance is called a pole-type antenna unit. Since the pole-type antenna unit is used while being carried, i.e. clipped to a pocket or the like, it is disposed in close proximity to the human body.
At any rate, the conventional pole-type antenna unit has the structure in which the antenna pattern and the phase shifter pattern are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member.
The foregoing pole-type antenna unit includes a board having an electronic component such as a low-noise amplifier (LNA) mounted thereon. Since the conventional pole-type antenna unit takes the form where the cylindrical member and the board are vertically arranged, there is a problem that the size of the antenna unit increases in its longitudinal direction. Further, when connecting the low-noise amplifier to the phase shifter or the helical antenna formed on the cylindrical member, the conventional pole-type antenna unit uses a dedicated terminal component such as a wire-like metal terminal.